A wealthy widow and a homeless servant: is it love or something more?

 A wealthy widow and a homeless servant: is it love or something more?

Is there a genuine love story here, or is there something more sinister going on, when a homeless guy moves in with an elderly wealthy woman?

When Caroline Holland, an 80-year-old widow, first laid eyes on 23-year-old David Fouté, she was a rich and contented resident of the picturesque coastal town of Cayucos, California.

He had come to assist him with a simple task. They discovered one other in a matter of weeks and declared their unwavering love.

Caroline claimed that, at her age, she never would have imagined falling so passionately in love with a complete stranger or engaging in a passionate, sexual relationship: "His compassionate nature has given me something truly unique." We have a lot in common.I like his charm and will be sad to see him depart."

Dave said to me, "I'll take care of her as best I can until I can't do this anymore." "Caroline is my girl, and I don't play around with that. Everyone knows that." I have someone to go home to, therefore I don't stay out late. I intend to remain inside until the wheels fall off."

His girls, on the other hand, had an other viewpoint.

She thought Dave was trying to hurt her mother's feelings by lying to her and chasing her away.

I reside on Dave and Caroline's block, so I was aware of their tale. In Cayucos, people live at a slower pace and spend more time socializing over meals.

Surfers may be seen standing up against the setting sun on a pier that juts out about a thousand feet into the ocean in the evening. Like Caroline's family, I wanted to believe Dave because it's the ideal setting for a love tale, but I also had serious reservations.

Was Caroline going to fall prey to financial exploitation, a problem that almost five percent of people over sixty face?

Millionaire partner

Sue Mitchell narrates the authentic account, captured in real time, of how a billionaire widow's infatuation with her servant leads to a collision between homelessness and luxury.

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Kim, Caroline's niece, told me, "The age difference really bothered me—that was a red light." "Why would someone that point in time act like he loves her, except for a place to stay?"

I was privileged to see the story's development. All parties were eager to discuss, and Caroline's kids especially appreciated the chance to voice their worries. Dave and Caroline wanted to share their tale because they felt they were being misunderstood.

I was really in love with Dave when I first met him. He was sent to me to undertake some remodeling work by a neighbor via the neighborhood church, which he often attended. Dave made the other employees at work very happy. He was humorous, played the guitar and harmonica, and seemed quite honest about his background.

But the more I heard, the clearer it seemed to me why Caroline's family was concerned. Dave was living rough and homeless in Cayucos, sleeping by the dock when he first arrived to work at Caroline's house.

He acknowledged right away that he had a crystal meth addiction. This finally drove him insane and resulted in his being imprisoned for manufacturing pipe bombs, which the authorities thought were related to a potential Walmart assault. Dave still has the belief that the grocery company had us all microchipped in mind.

Dave told me he was giving up drugs, but I could see he used a lot of marijuana and drank a lot of alcohol.

Susan and Sally, Caroline's children, were appalled by the transformation in their mother's character after her encounter with Dave. Sally said, "It's so bizarre; it's like a fantasy world." "When he arrived, she resembled a teenager. She was smiling and giggling inexplicably."

For a moment, the girls were unable to accept that what they were seeing was love. What they saw was a crafty stranger and a lonely elderly lady in need of company.

The issue of inheritance was another. Caroline had amassed a property portfolio worth several million dollars with her late husband, Joe.

This money belongs to our family; my parents put a lot of effort into earning it. Would it be OK if we gave it to a loser?" He enquired.

When Caroline met Dave, her children thought that she was already losing her mental faculties. They attempted to deem him mentally incapable of handling his business.

Caroline said, "They think I have Alzheimer's." "It's true that I forget things easily, but my stress level is too high. I am capable of choosing for myself.

Caroline thought she had every right to choose the partner of her choice, even if her connection with Dave was separating her from her kids. Following the death of her father, Caroline claimed that he failed to provide her with the necessary support: "They never came to see me before Dave, to be honest, they never came to see me."

This account of events was contested by his daughters. Living five hours away, Susan expressed her desire that she could have remained longer, but she and Sally were both full-time workers and raising their children. He said, "We tried to include her in everything," despite his mother's reluctance to participate.

Sally, who lived nearby, assisted her mother with her finances and tax filings prior to Dave's arrival. But the split made Caroline decide to regain financial authority.

Soon later, Caroline and Dave agree to a credit arrangement that enables Caroline to buy a $40,000 vehicle. When I asked him what would happen if Dave vanished, he said that he would be responsible for the whole loan amount. She said that she didn't mind and didn't give a damn about what her girls thought.

"Yes, they think they're protecting me from David, but David is the best thing that ever happened to me."

What was the real story behind Dave? I saw him prepare supper for Caroline and remind her to take her medicine when he returned to her house after a demanding workday. These kinds of moments gave me hope that he really loved and cared for her.

However, I also saw him bragging to his city buddies about how soon he wouldn't have to work again.

I made the decision to look into his background. What I discovered was a sordid past filled with child neglect and marital abuse.

When she believed her spouse was cheating on her and beating her, the relationship terminated. There was a girl from a previous marriage who, as a result of neglect, almost perished. Dave sold the infant to a couple who subsequently obtained a formal adoption.

Dave told me that was all in the past and that he now attends church and has vowed to live a better life with God. He had little when he moved to Cayucos, and he believed that his connection with Caroline was a sign that they were destined to be together.

"See what a blessing Jesus gave me," he said.I have to remain here with her; I can't leave her.

However, their tale was about to come to a stressful and brutal end.

Caroline had a single piece of property with two homes on it in a neighboring town. Despite one of the properties being leased by her own grandson and his family, Dave persuaded her to list the residences for sale.

Caroline's children were incensed because they thought he was using their mother's mental fragility. When he introduced her to the estate agents, Dave's mother seemed confused in the security camera video he showed me.

A portion of the $600,000 (£480,000) from the sale of the home was pledged to Dave by Caroline for his future.

The deal was closed swiftly, and the cheque payable to Caroline was ready to be picked up from the selling agents. However, he was admitted to the hospital with Covid at that very time.

On Dave's suggestion, Caroline had declined vaccinations, believing the immunization program to be a means of government control.

By the time Caroline was returned home, her children had gained power of attorney over her finances because of her poor mental and physical health.

Caroline passed away shortly after. "COVID didn't kill her, but it certainly didn't help that she was already getting weaker," Suzanne claims.

During Caroline's last days, the daughters would not let Dave see her, and they did not notify him by phone that Caroline had passed away. The girls were outraged at the lack of assistance they believed the local church had given them, therefore there was no burial.

Susan and Sally continue to believe that their mother was exploited and that no one provided her any assistance, not even the police, physicians, or social services. She claims that "everyone's hands were tied." "What we saw was not what they were seeing."

In the UK, one million individuals have dementia, with one-third being misdiagnosed. They are very susceptible as a result. After sharing my worries with Susan and Sally over their mother, I also discussed the subject of financial abuse—a problem that is becoming more and more prevalent in the US and the UK—with two knowledgeable geriatricians.

Financial capability may be among the first things to deteriorate when the brain is harmed by illness or aging, according to Drs. Mark Lachs of Weill Cornell Medicine and Jason Carlawish of the Penn Memory Center.

They want this process to be identified as a condition known as Age Associated Financial Vulnerability, which is characterized by a pattern of hazardous conduct that deviates from prior decisions.

According to Dr. Carlawish, financial decision-making requires a great deal of cognitive work. Even if you're doing well in your everyday life, you might still make financial blunders if you have modest cognitive impairment." According to medical professionals, almost 50% of people visiting their memory clinics in New York have been tricked.

Veronica Gray is the head of policy at Hourglass, a UK charity that provides a hotline for victims of abuse. According to her, Hourglass received reports of £19.5 million worth of theft, fraud, or coercion from senior victims in 2022—a 50% rise from the same time in 2017.

An adult son or daughter is involved in 70% of these occurrences. The others include new loves, friends, caretakers, and even grandkids. Victims of financial abuse must endure the terrible consequences of their mistreatment since the majority of instances are unreported to the authorities.

As she puts it, "many people lose large sums of money, lose assets they have lived on for years and end up in huge debts." Ms. Gray refers to it as a hidden crime.

There is a perilous gray area around mental ability and the right to self-determination in later life for families such as Caroline's. Additionally, geriatricians report that they often hear experiences similar to this one.

Dave is homeless once again in Cayucos, despite owning the vehicle that Caroline assisted him in purchasing. Standing as he did when he first arrived in the town, he is attempting to make a livelihood by peddling jewelry and objects crafted from used materials.

He was sort of in a comatose condition the last time I saw him, switching the lighter on and off while repeating himself over and over again that he loved Caroline: "I'll come when she calls." "Gone, I miss Caroline, I loved Caroline," he said. Me. "On my little mission, I was just trying to make her proud."